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A Clinical Trial Assessing the Safety, Efficacy, and Delivery of Olive-Oil-Based Three-Chamber Bags for Parenteral Nutrition
Published on: September 20, 2019
Clinical trial design for mild-to-moderate community-acquired pneumonia--an industry perspective
Roger M Echols1, Glenn S Tillotson, James X Song
1Replidyne, Inc., Louisville, Colorado, USA. rechols@id3c.com
Establishing the benefit of antibiotic treatment for community-acquired pneumonia is challenging. This study proposes noninferiority margins for future trials based on historical data and a levofloxacin superiority study.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Medicine
- Infectious Diseases
- Clinical Trials
Background:
- Noninferiority trials require established benefit of active control over no treatment.
- Placebo-controlled trials for antibiotic benefits in community-acquired pneumonia are lacking.
- Historical data confirm mortality reduction from antimicrobials, but mortality is unsuitable for mild-to-moderate ambulatory pneumonia trials.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose appropriate noninferiority margins for future clinical trials in mild-to-moderate community-acquired pneumonia.
- To justify these margins using historical data and a contemporary superiority trial.
Main Methods:
- Review of historical clinical data on spontaneous recovery in Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia.
- Analysis of a contemporary clinical trial comparing levofloxacin to ceftriaxone/cefuroxime for community-acquired pneumonia.
- Justification of noninferiority margins based on established treatment efficacy.
Main Results:
- Historical data and a levofloxacin superiority trial provide a basis for setting noninferiority margins.
- A 10% noninferiority margin is proposed for the per-protocol population.
- A 15% noninferiority margin is proposed for the microbiologically evaluable population.
Conclusions:
- Noninferiority margins for community-acquired pneumonia trials can be justified.
- These margins are essential for designing future clinical trials evaluating antibiotic treatments.
- The proposed margins facilitate the assessment of new therapies for mild-to-moderate community-acquired pneumonia.
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